Letters to the Editor
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Blumenthal's predictions
I hate to admit it, but the previous epic commenter has a good point; The professional wise men of politics are all mostly just guessing when it comes to our government's future. It's a sad fact that the best of the best can't do better than a flip of the coin when it comes to telling us, the public, about Washington D.C. Personally, I think Sidney Blumenthal is brilliant. He has shed more insight on this administration than any other professional journalist.
But it leads me to wonder. Since Karl Rove has played this game expertly under the cover of neo-con religious, pro-war patriotism, since he has gotten away with so much, how do we know that what Blumenthal says NOW is true? Has Gonzalez really been under the supervision of Rove? What makes him say that? I think this article deserves a little more actual evidence than just Blumenthal's own word.
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@elephantman
Please offer your own thoughts on the reasons for the sudden departure of the ever-loyal Gonzales.
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@elephantguy...are you paying attention at all?
you wrote:
Now, 25 days later, the reason that Gonzalez must resign is that he knows too much about those evildoings in the Bush White House.
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I musta missed it, but where, praytell, in the essay, did Blumenthal say what you attribute to him, above?
Did you read the essay at all? a couple of others here have pointed out the obvious hole in your "argument": circumstances have changed. If Rove was Gonzo's manager (and, who knows? Maybe he was, it's as good a theory as any. Surely you don't think Shrub was calling the shots for Gonzo, do you? Tell us. You think Bush was telling Gonzo what to do? And if not, who was it? Rove? Cheney? Bozo the clown? You?), then circumstances have changed and your quote of Blumenthal's earlier piece is entirely irrelevant.
This is so typical of those of you on the right: quote a quote that does not apply, then try to make it apply, and damn the source of the quote when quote and circumstances don't correspond..
Now, when we quote YOU guys saying stupid shit, it's almost always accurate, complete and damning all by itself, because you guys say the dumbest possible crap on a regular basis. We don't have to make it up...the way you seem to do. If you read Greenwald you know what I mean.
As for why Gonzo resigned, I think it's a good question. I'm not sure Blumenthal has answered it. I must confess, I'm a bit surprised...unless, of course, Bush makes a recess appointment, or the fix for Chertoff is already in. That would not surprise me, the Dems in congress being such spineless, opportunistic hacks, on the evidence.
I do think something is up, because there was no reason I can think of, offhand, why Gonzo could not have served out his term in office.
Unless, of course, something very bad was/is about to blow up in his face. Then, maybe there's the reason.
But Gonzo didn't need Rove to tell him what to do, I don't think. He knew what to do. Whatever was necessary to protect the President. Period. Given spineless Dems in Congress, surely that would not have been a very difficult thing to continue to do.
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Nothing will change
Why did Alberto jump ship? Simple, because Bush let him. The Democrats missed their chance to impeach him.
Perhaps Rove's departure will allow others to escape before the USS Bush II slips beneath the waves but the essence of this president and his band of incompetents will not change. What will follow is a recess appointment to bypass the vacationing Congress and more ineffective hand-wringing from the Democrats. Long overdue is impeachment for Bush and Cheney. The damage they have wrought on our Constitution and political institutions and processes is mind-boggling. They have destroyed DoJ, DoD, FEMA, Homeland Security (stillborn), EPA, FAA, FCC, CIA, etc. etc. etc. Everything important (truth, honor, freedom, intelligence) was sacrificed on the altar of political gain. But without these virtues, political gain is hollow. To control the empty shell of a government now run by idiots is to threaten our republic's very existence.
The Republicans have completed the self-fulfilling prophecy enunciated by the oracle Reagan that "gummint is the problem." After 6+ years of incompetence and corruption, the government IS the problem. It is ineffective and corrupt and insensitive to the needs of anyone other than large corporations and major donors.
The best thing that can happen between now and January 20, 2009 is that Bush and Cheney do not start a war with Iran or anyone else.
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Salon's Glenn Greenwald nailed it
I think that Glenn Greenwald provided a much better analysis. The Bushies are not planning on replacing Paul Clement. They have about a year to go and they'll just run out the clock with someone else who will do nothing to enforce the law. Glenn writes:
The Politico does have an article by the always-plugged-into-the-Bush-administration Mike Allen which signals the potential administration strategy here:
The acting attorney general with be Solicitor General Paul Clement. He "can stay in that position for quite a while," a senior administration official said.
That would avoid a bruising confirmation fight. Some Democratic senators have vowed not to confirm a Gonzales successor. . . .
An administration official explained: An individual may serve in an acting capacity for 210 days. However, if there is a pending nominee, the 210 day "clock" starts again when a nominee is announced. The 210 day "clock" would restart again if the nominee is voted down. The clock stops when there's a nominee, and restarts with a new 210 days if the nomination is withdrawn or fails.
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Gonzales' Decision? Not Likely.
It seems unlikely that the timing of Gonzales' resignation was his own decision. After all, it would be the first time anyone in this administration has acted on their own.
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Gonzales Resigned Because the Democrats Won Last Fall
Last fall, days after the Democratic Congressional victory, I wrote a little piece for my journal at Democratic Underground called "The Case for the Impeachment of Al Gonzales." It got quite a bit of attention. Even though we knew nothing at that time about fired U.S. attorneys or his latest round of perjuries before Congress, a whole bunch of people agreed with me that the very first person who needed to go from the Bush administration was the phony baloney attorney general. Looks like Congress agreed too.
As far back as November 2006, Fredo had sealed his own fate with his criminal activity---and criminal activity is something that can never be tolerated from the chief law enforcement officer of the United States. There is no Article II exemption from the law for the Attorney General. He either sets an example for the rest of us or he gets kicked out on his felonious rear.
The Republican Congress that tolerated his law breaking ways should have been ashamed of itself. As his many crimes were revealed to the public, they did become ashamed of themselves. He was an embarrassment that had to go. As the 2008 elections neared, it became inevitable that he would skulk back to Texas for the good of his party. It isn't like he can fulfill his purpose---using the Department of Justice as a political tool of the RNC---with the Senate Judiciary Committee breathing down his neck. W. will have to find someone new to recess appoint for that.